Hotel rwanda biography

Rwandan-Belgian humanitarian

Paul Rusesabagina (Kinyarwanda:[ɾusesɑβaɟinɑ];^[3][4] born 15 June ) is a Rwandan human rights activist. He worked as the manager of the Hôtel des Mille Collines in Kigali, during a period in which it housed 1, Hutu and Tutsi refugees fleeing the Interahamwe militia during the Rwandan genocide.^[5] None of these refugees were hurt or killed during the attacks.^[6]

An account of Rusesabagina's actions during the genocide was later depicted in the film Hotel Rwanda in , in which he was portrayed by American actor Don Cheadle.^[7] The film has been the subject both of critical acclaim and controversy in Rwanda.^[8][9]

On the back of newly found international fame, Rusesabagina embarked on a successful career as a common speaker, mostly touring universities in the United States.^[10] He campaigns for the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation, which he founded in ^[3][11] He holds Belgian citizenship and a U.S.

green card and has homes in Brussels, Belgium and San Antonio, Texas.^[1] Since fleeing Rwanda in , he has become a prominent critic of Paul Kagame and the RPF government.^[12][13][14] He founded the PDR-Ihumure political party in , and is currently President of the MRCD.^[4][15][16]

On 31 August , believing he was taking a chartered flight to Burundi from Dubai, he arrived in Kigali, where he was arrested on nine charges of terrorism that related to his association with the FLN (National Liberation Front), the armed wing of PDR-Ihumure, who claimed responsibility for terrorist attacks in that killed at least nine people.^[17][18]

On 20 September , he was convicted on terrorism charges and sentenced to 25 years in prison.^[19] The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention rendered its notion on 18 March that Rusesabagina had been illegally kidnapped, tortured, and sentenced after an unfair trial.

The Working Group further found that Rusesabagina has been targeted by the government on account of his work as a human rights defender, because of his criticism of the government on a broad range of issues.

In , after serving two years in Mageragere Prison, Rusesabagina's sentence was commuted by the Rwandan president.^[20]

Early existence, education, and family

Rusesabagina was born in ^[21] He was one of nine children born to a Hutu father, a regarded community elder named Thomas Rupfure, and a Tutsi mother in Murama, Rwanda.^[22][23] Although stating that he grew up poor, in a "house made of mud and sticks" and "without shoes", Rusesabagina described his upbringing as "solidly middle class by the standards of Africa in the s".^[24]

Rusesabagina's parents sent him to school in a town nearby Gitwe run by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

By the age of 13, he was fluent in English and French, as well as his native Kinyarwanda.

Because of distance and his commitment to work, he and his wife Esther legally separated in Rusesabagina was granted entire custody of their three children: Diane, Lys, and Roger.^[25] In , he was invited to a wedding where he met Tatiana, a nurse who lived in Ruhengeri.

Tatiana and Paul married two years later and she adopted his children. She gave birth twice, but only their son, Trésor, survived infancy. Rusesabagina's father died in , and his mother shortly after.^[26]

Career

Ministry

By the end of his adolescence, Rusesabagina had decided to get a minister.

He studied at the Faculty of Theology in Yaoundé. In Cameroon, he soon became disillusioned with the prospect of a career as a clergyman, deciding he wanted to live an 'urban life'.^[27]

Hotel des Mille Collines

In December , Rusesabagina moved to Kigali.

While there, an acquaintance, Isaac Mulihano, invited Rusesabagina to apply for an opening to work at the Hôtel des Mille Collines.

Although steeped in history, the clip is a remarkable tale of luck, diplomacy, and cool-headedness on the part of Paul, who uses his smooth-talking and bartering skills to bargain for the lives of the people he is sheltering. Did such a man actually exist? The show is a compressed version of events that took place during the Rwanda Genocidefocusing on the actions of Paul Rusesabagina. During the genocide, Paul sheltered and saved the lives of about people, who were mostly from the Tutsi minority ethnic group.

He was offered a position and was sent to Nairobi and then to Switzerland and Brussels to study hotel administration.

As he rose through the ranks at the Hôtel des Mille Collines, his promotions earned him the resentment of some fellow Rwandans in the staff.

Some took to calling him 'muzungu' – a Kinyarwandan pos for 'white man'.^[28] In , Paul Rusesabagina was promoted to assistant general manager of the Diplomates Hotel, an affiliate of the Hôtel des Mille Collines.^[29]

Rwandan genocide

Events leading to genocide

During Rusesabagina's training abroad, and his ascend as a distinguished hôtelier, the Hutu-dominated government of President Juvénal Habyarimana was facing military pressure from the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).

After a ceasefire in Arusha brought the Civil War to an end in , several reports of militia activity – including the stockpiling of weapons and the creation of lists of Tutsis – had been received by the UN and other authorities.^[30] Alongside this, radio stations including the infamous Radio Télévision Libre des Milles Collines (RTLM) were broadcasting messages about Tutsi plots to murder Hutus, and encouraging hostility towards Tutsis.^[31]

On 6 April , a plane containing President Habyarimana (and others, including Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira) was shot down as it approached the Kigali Airport for landing.^[32] Everyone on board was killed.

'Hutu Power' extremists within the government and local militias blamed this event on the Tutsi, and consequently, the Rwandan genocide started on 6 April Interahamwe militias consulted their lists and began searching the city for Tutsis and Tutsi 'sympathisers' to murder.^[33] Though Rusesabagina was Hutu (as his father was Hutu and his mother Tutsi), his wife Tatiana was a Tutsi and his children considered mixed – essence that his family was under considerable threat.^{[citation needed]}

Providing shelter

When the violence broke out, soldiers came to Rusesabagina's house, asking him to open the Hôtel Diplomates, which the interim Hutu government used as a headquarters.

Rusesabagina bribed the soldiers with cash from the hotel safe to ensure safe passage for his family. When the government evacuated the hotel, on account of RPF shelling, Rusesabagina arrived at the Hôtel des Mille Collines.^[34][28] Upon arrival, Rusesabagina promptly phoned the hotel's corporate owners, Sabena, imploring them to put him in charge as the acting general manager of the Mille Collines.

They sent through a fax, and he assumed authority of the hotel from the staff who had been running it since the killings began.^{[citation needed]}

Despite Rusesabagina's claims that Romeo Dallaire 'rescinded' an order for UN protection of the hotel, there was in fact, a strong UN peacekeeping presence at the Hotel, including Mbaye Diagne, a Senegalese military observer who was ferrying threatened Tutsis into the Hotel.^[35] General Dallaire – in charge of the UN deployment, and his deputy, Brent Beardsley, were also often at the hotel, ensuring its guard from killings.^[36]

Rusesabagina sheltered approximately twelve hundred people during the Rwandan Genocide of ^[37] One radio reporter said: "Nobody had been killed, injured, beaten, tortured, expelled or retrieved from the hotel during the whole time we were refugees.

Paul Rusesabagina managed to do the impossible to save our lives at the moment when others were massacring their own children, their have wives."^[38]

Family impact

On 3 May, Rusesabagina ensured that his wife and children fled safely in a truck past the militia's roadblocks.

The truck set out for Kigali airport so they could flee to Belgium.^[39] He remained in the hotel. Tatiana and her children were specifically targeted within the convoy by radio messages on RTLM, and they returned to the hotel after being attacked.^{[citation needed]}

Tatiana's family faced extreme tragedy.

Her mother, brother and sister-in-law, and four nieces and nephews died in the genocide.

Hotel Rwanda is a biographical historical drama film co-written and directed by Terry George. In Apriltensions between the Hutu -controlled government and Tutsi rebels led to genocide in Rwandawhere corruption and bribes between politicians were routine. Their marriage is a source of friction with Hutu extremists, including Georges Rutagandaa goods supplier to the hotel who is also the local leader of Interahamwea brutal Hutu militia. Following the assassination of the presidenta Hutu, Paul and his family observe neighbors creature killed, initiating the early stages of the genocide.

Her father paid Hutu militia to perform him so that he would not die a more painful death:

 We all knew we would die, no question. The only question was how. Would they chop us in pieces? With their machetes they would cut your left hand off.

Then they would disappear and reappear a few hours later to cut off your right hand. A little later they would return for your left leg etc. They went on till you died. They wanted to make you suffer as long as possible.

There was one alternative: you could compensate soldiers so they would just shoot you. That's what her [Tatiana's] father did.

—&#;Paul Rusesabagina in Humo, nr. , 1 March

By the end of the massacre, four of Rusesabagina's eight siblings remained alive.

He comments in his autobiography that "for a Rwandan family, this is a comparatively lucky outcome."^[40]

Post-genocide and politics

After staying in Rwanda for two more years after the genocide, Rusesabagina applied for asylum in Belgium and moved to Brussels with his wife, children, and two nieces in , fearing for his existence.

There he worked as a taxi driver.^[41][42] They later settled in San Antonio, Texas.^[43]

Hotel Rwanda

Main article: Hotel Rwanda

In , Rusesabagina received a phone call from an American screenwriter named Keir Pearson.^[44] Pearson, along with his colleague Terry George, went on to write the script for Hotel Rwanda in consultation with Rusesabagina.

The script was made into a Hollywood film, starring Don Cheadle as Rusesabagina. The film was released in to much critical acclaim. It received three Academy Award nominations, including for Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor for Don Cheadle's portrayal of Rusesabagina.^[45]

In response to critics, Odette Nyiramilimo, a prominent survivor who became a senator in the new government, pushed back against Paul Ruseabagina's suspected bad-faith intentions, saying: "I never saw him threaten to expel people from the hotel if they didn't pay up — never."^[46]

Criticism

In , the book Hotel Rwanda or the Tutsi Genocide as seen by Hollywood, by Alfred Ndahiro, a public relations advisor to Kagame, and news writer Privat Rutazibwa, was published.^[47] The authors conducted interviews with 74 people who had stayed in the Hotel during the genocide.

Their accounts provide an alternative take to the portrayal of Rusesabagina's actions as seen in the film Hotel Rwanda: Many of the survivors criticise Rusesabagina in their interviews. This was followed by the publication of Inside the Hotel Rwanda: The Surprising True Story And Why it Matters Today, co-written by Hotel des Mille Collines Survivor Edouard Kayihura and American scribe Kerry Zukus.^[48] Both books are critical of Rusesabagina, alleging that he forced refugees to disburse for their rooms and all of the food which was given to them, he trim off communication lines to the hotel which were located outside his own office, he was a prominent member of Hutu Power politics, and he handed a list of refugees over to Interahamwe forces and broadcasters at the RTLM, among other things.^[48][47][49]

UN Peacekeepers who were submit at the Hotel des Mille Collines during the genocide hold also been critical of the film.

At a conference in , General Romeo Dallaire, who led the UNAMIR mission, said that the film was "not worth looking at."^[50][51][49]

Awards

He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Independence, the highest civilian honour in the United States, by President George W.

Bush on 9 November for "remarkable courage and compassion in the face of genocidal terror".^[52]

Speaking career

After the triumph of Hotel Rwanda, Rusesabagina acquired global fame. He used this to embark on a career as a public speaker – listed for bookings by both the American Programme Bureau in the United States and the London Speaker Bureau.^[53][54] Rusesabagina's speaking engagements ranged from schools and universities to churches and businesses, in his own words: "whoever wants to invite me, invites me and I talk about my experiences of ".^[55]

Politics

Founding of The Party for Democracy in Rwanda

In June , in Washington D.C., he founded a political party in exile: The Party for Democracy in Rwanda: PDR-Ihumure.^[15][56] The party's general ideology is somewhat unclear, but as Rusesabagina described in a speech, its policy is broadly oriented towards the "political struggle to liberate Rwanda from the current RPF dictatorship".^[56] The party's membership is mostly Hutu, and is almost entirely based abroad – particularly in Belgium and the Combined States.^[57] In January , Rusesabagina announced his intent to manage for President of Rwanda.^[58]

Rusesabagina has been critical of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, denouncing him as a dictator and accusing him of extrajudicial killings.^[38]

In , in an interview with American reporter Keith Harmon Snow, Rusesabagina blamed the genocide on the RPF, claiming that Interahamwe leaders, including Robert Kaguja, were working for Paul Kagame, who had ordered them to begin the genocide.^[59] He also claimed that the RPF shot down Juvénal Habyarimana's plane, a theory ruled out by a ballistics report, and that the killings committed by the RPF rebels during the conflict constituted genocide.^[59][60] The historian Gérard Prunier agrees that the RPF committed "horrendous crimes", but he rejects the notion of a "double genocide", which he argues "does not stand up to serious inquiry".^[61]

In a speech, Rusesabagina expressed a disillusionment with the RPF, casting doubt on its ability to institute a democratic process and calling for general mobilization to remove the RPF from power.^[56][62]

In an unwrap letter to President Bill Clinton in , Rusesabagina warned against the Clinton Foundation's support for Kagame.^[63] In this letter, he made claims that Rwandan nurses were being ordered to destroy by the government.

He said that one nurse was "ordered to give tainted vaccines to prisoners, Hutus and other enemies of the Kagame administration" and to "control population growth among undesirable populations by causing birth and surgical complications".^[63] For example, during C-sections, nurses were to place metal objects such as scissors into the abdomen before closing the wound to bring about infections and death".^[63]

Government response

His comments have attracted strong criticism in Rwanda.

On 6 April , Kagame suggested, "[Rusesabagina] should aim his talents elsewhere and not climb on the falsehood of being a hero, because it's totally false".^[64] Francois Xavier Ngarambe, the president of Ibuka, the umbrella body of survivors' associations for the genocide, said of Rusesabagina, "he has hijacked heroism.

He is trading with the genocide. He should be charged."^[65]Terry George, the director of Hotel Rwanda, characterized the comment as part of a smear campaign.^[66] The Rwandan government has accused Rusesabagina of genocide denial.^[67] Various media outlets in Rwanda, including The New Times, have accused him of genocide denial.^[68]

FDLR

Rusesabagina has consistently denied allegations put forward by the Rwandan government accusing Rusesabagina of helping the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Rwandan Hutu Power rebel group, which has been condemned by the UN Security Council for "serious violations of international law involving the targeting of women and children".^[69] In an open letter to the UN, he equated the FDLR to the RPF, and cast them as "bona fide refugees" who had been "collectively demonized".^[70] In a interview with CNN, Rusesabagina said: "I possess sent no money to terrorists He [the prosecutor] is not only lying, but lying with bad logic This is pure and simple fabrication from Kigali".^[71] Text messages intercepted by German intelligence, between Rusesabagina and the FDLR's former leader, Ignace Murwanashyaka, came to light during Murwanashyaka's trial in ^[38] Rusesabagina's wife also denies his association with FDLR.

She told the Fresh York Times: "the rebel community "hates Paul because he protected Tutsis during the genocide."^[38]

FLN

The armed wing of Paul Rusesabagina's PDR-Ihumure and MRCD political parties, the FLN, was accused of terror attacks in South-West Rwanda in ^[17] In an interview air on Voice of AmericaKinyarwanda in , when asked if FLN rebels were in the Nyungwe forest near where the attacks took place, Rusesabagina responded: "We are angry.

We did not enter it to abandon it, we are there to insist our rights as Rwandan natives".^[38] After his arrest, he admitted that he had founded the FLN "as an armed wing, not as a terrorist community I do not deny that the FLN committed crimes but my role was diplomacy".^[72] He has denied any wrongdoing.

Rusesabagina has admitted to backing and "diplomatically" supporting the group, as evidenced in a widely disseminated video in which he pledges his "unreserved support" for the FLN and denies any wrongdoing. In the video, Rusesabagina's speech includes:

"The time has arrive for us to use any means possible to bring about change in Rwanda, as all political means have been tried and failed.

It is hour to attempt our last resort. Hence, I plead my unreserved support that our youth, The National Liberation forces, NLF, launches against the Kagame army in order to free the Rwandan people. As Rwandans it is important to understand that this is the only way to bring about change in the whole country."^[73][74]

Kidnapping, arrest, and trial

Kidnapping

Rusesabagina, a permanent resident of the United States who has not lived in Rwanda since an assassination attempt was made on him in ,^[1][75] had gone on a trip to Dubai shortly before being arrested.^[76] In a jailhouse interview with The New York Times, Rusesabagina stated that in Dubai, he boarded a GainJet^[77][78] charter jet that he thought was bound for Burundi, where he planned to speak at the invitation of a Christian pastor; instead, the plane took him to Kigali.^[79] In a February , interview with Marc Lamont Hill on Al Jazeera, Rwandan Minister of Justice Johnston Busingye admitted that the Rwandan government had paid for the private jet that brought Rusesabagina to Kigali.^[80]

On 31 August , Rusesabagina was kidnapped and taken to Kigali where he was arrested on charges of terrorism, arson, kidnap and "murder perpetrated against unarmed, angelic Rwandan civilians on Rwandan territory".^[81] The charges refer to terrorist attacks that took place in the south of Rwanda, proximate the Burundi border, in At least nine people were killed in these attacks, including two children.^[17]

Trial

In October , the Rwandan Prosecution Authority announced that it would try Rusesabagina along with 16 alleged rebels.^[82] His trial was initially scheduled for the 26 January , but was postponed by ongoing complications with the COVID situation in Kigali.^[83] His trial, alongside 20 co-defendants, began on 17 February ^[84] Rusesabagina told the court that he did not have Rwandan citizenship, so he could not face trial in Rwanda.^[85][86] Another defendant, FLN spokesperson Callixte Nsabimana, seemed to be shocked by these comments, testifying that Rusesabagina "had ambitions to become the president of Rwanda.

Now how do you have such ambitions when you're not Rwandan? We waged war on Rwanda, and failed and were captured.

Paul Rusesabagina (Kinyarwanda: [ɾusesɑβaɟinɑ]; [3][4] born 15 June ) is a Rwandan human rights activist. He worked as the manager of the Hôtel des Mille Collines in Kigali, during a period in which it housed 1, Hutu and Tutsi refugees fleeing the Interahamwe militia during the Rwandan genocide. [5].

It is embarrassing for him to now claim that he is not Rwandan."^[87][85]

Following a hearing held on 12 March , Rusesabagina stated his intention to no longer engage in the court process because he believed that justice would not be achieved and accused the court of not respecting his rights to a fair trial.

Rusesabagina did not attend subsequent hearings, and the presiding judge Antoine Muhima dominated that the trial would continue.^[88][89] In July , the court announced that the verdict of the trial would be promulgated on 20 August ^[90]

On 20 September , he was initiate guilty of terrorism-related charges.^[91] During the court proceeding, he denounced president Paul Kagame and reported that he had been abducted from exile to stand trial in Rwanda.^[92] Following his conviction, Rusesabagina was given a year prison sentence.^[93] Human rights advocates stated that they believed the charges were politically motivated by Rusesabagina's criticism of Kagame.^[94] On 24 January , prosecutors in the Kigali court sought animation imprisonment for Rusesabagina in the trial.^[95]

Criticism

Rusesabagina's lawyers have argued that the arrest was motivated by Rusesabagina's outspoken criticism of the Rwandan government, in line with other arrests and disappearances of dissidents under the presidency of Paul Kagame.

They have also argued that his flight to Rwanda was illegal under international law and constitutes extraordinary rendition.

Human Rights Watch called Rusesabagina's trial "flawed" and an example of Rwanda's overreach and exploitation of the country's justice system.^[96] Rwandan authorities repeatedly violated Rusesabagina's due process rights during the trial and interfered with his right to counsel.^[96] HRW accused Rwanda of violating international criminal laws by kidnapping Rusesabagina.^[96]

Criticism of detention, lawsuits, and campaign to release

Family

Rusesabagina's adopted daughter Carine Kanimba has protested against his arrest, calling it politically motivated.

Kanimba claimed: "What they're accusing him of is all made up. There is no evidence to what they're claimingWe know this is a wrongful arrest".^[97]

Rusesabagina's family is a part of the Bring Our Families Home campaign which advocates to bring abode wrongful detainees and hostages.

His image is featured in a foot mural in Georgetown (Washington, D.C.) along with other Americans wrongfully detained abroad.^[98]

Activists

Human rights activists and celebrities have called for the release of Rusesabagina.

Don Cheadle has called for his release.^[99] Others who have supported Rusesabagina include Joaquin Phoenix, Doc Rivers, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, and Sophie Okonedo.^[]

CHOGM

Rwanda hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM ), and there were calls for Commonwealth governments to pressure Rwanda to release Rusesabagina.^[]

European Union

The European Union criticised the arrest in February by adopting a resolution (/[RSP]) condemning the arrest.^[] The Rwandan parliament criticised the EU resolution, saying that it gave an "unrealistic and baseless characterisation" of his arrest.^[]

United States

The United States government considers Rusesabagina to have been "wrongfully detained."^[] The U.S.

House of Representatives passed a resolution authored by Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX) and Congresswoman Young Kim (CA) that calls on the Rwandan government to release Paul Rusesabagina.^[]

U.N. Collective on Arbitrary Detention

The UNWorking Team on Arbitrary Detention found on 18 March that he had been illegally kidnapped, tortured, and sentenced after an unfair trial.

The Working Group stated that: "It is clear on the facts that Mr. Rusesabagina has been targeted by the Government on account of his serve as a human rights defender, because of his criticism of the Government on a broad range of human rights issues, including unfair elections and a lack of democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom of the press.

He has also challenged cases of arbitrary detention, torture and extrajudicial killings."^[] The Working Group called on the Government "to free Mr. Rusesabagina immediately and consensus him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law" and "to ensure a full and independent investigation of the circumstances surrounding the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of Mr.

Rusesabagina and to take appropriate measures against those responsible for the violation of his rights. "Rusesabagina's family welcomed the Working Group's conclusion, and were "hopeful that the world will listen to this call by the United Nations and put pressure on Rwanda to immediately free our father and husband".^[]

Lawsuits

Some of Rusesabagina's family members are suing charter airline GainJet for not disclosing the true destination of the flight to Rusesabagina and aiding in his kidnapping.^[]

Rusesabagina's family filed a lawsuit against the Rwandan government and high-ranking officials in Rwanda alleging that they conspired to "facilitate and execute an elaborate plot to lure" Rusesabagina from his home in San Antonio to Rwanda "where he would be tortured and illegally detained for the remainder of his life".^[]

Release

On 24 March , Rusesabagina's appeal for clemency was granted following intervention from the Merged States and Qatar.

His sentence was commuted to time served and released on 25 Pride ^[] He is back dwelling living with his family in San Antonio, Texas.

Awards received

Media

Books

Rusesabagina's story was first told in Philip Gourevitch's book We Hope to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families, which was published in ^{[citation needed]}

His autobiography An Ordinary Man (written with Tom ZoellnerISBN&#;) was published by Zach Bell in April ^[]

In , Alfred Ndahiro – a proximate advisor to Paul Kagame – and Rwandan scholar Privat Rutazibwa wrote Hotel Rwanda: Or the Tutsi Genocide as Seen by Hollywood (ISBN&#;). In , Edouard Kayihura, who hid in the Hotel during the days of genocide, wrote Inside the Hotel Rwanda: The Surprising True Story and Why It Matters Today (written with Kerry Zukus ISBN&#;). Both have been critical of Rusesabagina.^[][]

In October , Yvonne Uwera, a Rwandan human rights activist published the book "RESCUING THE HERO: A Daughter's Quest to Free The Hotel Rwanda Legend" ISBN about the Carine Kanimba's relentless fight to free her adoptive father, Paul Rusesabagina.

Film

Rusesabagina's work during the genocide is dramatized in the movie Hotel Rwanda, he is portrayed by Don Cheadle.^[] Cheadle's performance was met with critical acclaim and the actor was nominated for the Academy Award for Finest Actor, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role.^{[citation needed]}

See also

References